HR: 0800h
AN: P41A-0924 [Abstracts]
TI: Revolutionising Science-Driven Deep Space Mission Operations Using Autonomously-Operating Spacecraft
as Demonstrated with ASE on EO-1.
AU: Davies, A G
EM: Ashley.Davies@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109
United States
AU: * Chien, S
EM: chien@aig.jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109
United States
AU: Doggett, T C
EM: tcd@asu.edu
AF: Arizona State University, Dept. of Geological Sciences, Tempe, AZ 85287
United States
AU: Ip, F
EM: ip@arizona.edu
AF: University of Arizona, Dept. of Hydrology and Water Resources, Tucson, AZ 85721
United States
AU: Dohm, J
EM: dohm@arizona.edu
AF: University of Arizona, Dept. of Hydrology and Water Resources, Tucson, AZ 85721
United States
AU: Greeley, R
EM: greeley@asu.edu
AF: Arizona State University, Dept. of Geological Sciences, Tempe, AZ 85287
United States
AU: Baker, V
EM: baker@hwr.arizona.edu
AF: University of Arizona, Dept. of Hydrology and Water Resources, Tucson, AZ 85721
United States
AU: Castano, R
EM: Rebecca.Castano@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109
United States
AU: Sherwood, R
EM: Robert.Sherwood@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109
United States
AU: Wagstaff, K
EM: Kiri.Wagstaff@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109
United States
AB:
Until now, deep-space missions, separated from Earth by long communication times, have not had the capacity to quickly react
to dynamic, ephemeral events that are of high science value. The capability of a spacecraft to react on a short time scale
to such events is now a reality. The New Millennium Program Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment (ASE) has successfully
demonstrated autonomous, science-driven spacecraft operations. This flight-proven technology consists of (1) data
classifiers, used to detect features of scientific interest; (2) an onboard planner than allocates available resources and
creates observation sequences; and (3) a spacecraft command language that operates the spacecraft and instruments. ASE is
flying on the Earth Observing 1 (EO-1) spacecraft in Earth orbit and autonomously detects active cloud cover, volcanism,
changes in the cryosphere and flood events. Data are processed on-board EO-1. The spacecraft and Hyperion hyperspectral
imager are then re-tasked to obtain further observations of the target. So far, this process has been executed over 300
times on-board EO-1. Additionally, in the special case of active volcanism, a data subset containing spectra of hot pixels
is extracted and preferentially returned. This technology can enhance science return per returned byte by orders of
magnitude. ASE technology is being infused onto Mars Odyssey to process THEMIS thermal imager data, with the goal of
autonomously detecting thermal anomalies (hot spots), dust storms, and tracking the advance and retreat of seasonal ice caps.
ASE allows THEMIS to collect a large volume of additional data, more than can be transmitted due to bandwidth constraints,
and quickly analyze it to determine which images are of the highest priority (such as an image containing a thermal
anomaly) or to transmit only the essential information, such as the location of a detection (such as the edge of the polar
cap). Spacecraft autonomy is a requirement on certain deep-space missions, where operating time is short in a hostile
environment, such as a Europa orbiter, icy satellite submersible, or Titan aerobot. The ability to detect and respond to
dynamic events (e.g., active volcanism) would greatly enhance mission science return.
This work was performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract to NASA.
Special thanks to C. M. Stevens and A. B. Chmielewski.
UR: http://ase.jpl.nasa.gov
DE: 5464 Remote sensing
DE: 5494 Instruments and techniques
DE: 8485 Remote sensing of volcanoes
DE: 8499 General or miscellaneous
DE: 9820 Techniques applicable in three or more fields
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005